Full Text

Array t.O i )5.
Vancouver, British Columbia, Saturday, June 10, 1911.
Sabeortptlon Price
Kription Price *ti mm
TXXYXAX 91.01
[EASTERN PROPAGANDA
| O'Brien in the Maritime gives his Views on Nation-wide
Movement
i In order to assist the comrades of
(ils part while the provincial elections
ere on 1 came east much faster than
j othewise would have done. While
bming here I assisted the comrades
Iiith four meetings in Saskatchewan,
lye ta Ontario, three in Quebec and
liur in New Brunswick. And now I
tn at the end of it—as far east as one
^n get on land. Since arriving here
Cape Breton County) I have assisted
lie comrades with sixteen meetings
Kid their annual convention.
! While organizing for the Socialist
arty of Canada through the Western
rovinces, most everywhere I went I
let comrades who knew more about
ie movement than I, comrades from
hom I could learn almost every min-
te I was with them, comrades who
reely Imparted to me such knowledge
s they could, endeavoring in that way
3 assist me In doing such as I could
or the movement. While I was hik-
ng about, late and early, arranging for
letting to and from meetings, they
apart from their slavery) were drink-
ng deep at the fountain of Knowledge.
?hey were equally as familiar with
he philosophy of Omar Khayyam, the
vritings of Deitzgen and his science
|if human brain work as they were
vith the works of Marx, Engels, La-
|argue and others.
But as I came east of Winnipeg, I
uissed all this assistance. Mc, as
tditor of the Western Clarion has said
fevery comrade should do propaganda,
put as good a fellow as you can start
with is yourself." I noticed the
I:omrades who spend so much time do-
ng propaganda with the heathen that
perhaps to some extent to the similarity of natural environment as well as
Industrial economics.
There are various reasons why the
movement has not made such progress
here as it has on the Pacific coast.
The population here has been more
staid or settled in ItB make up, with,
therefore, less chance to break with
the superstition of the past. The series
oi strikes on the Pacific coast in the
early part of this century helped to
clear the way for sound Socialist pro
paganda. Here, hostilities between the
buyers and sellers of the commodity,
labor-power, were, until about two
years ago, somewhat successfully concealed. Since then it has come to the
surface with a vengeance.
Our movement is in about the same
stage of development here now as It
was in the west about six years ago,
a good clear movement on the coast
with some struggling locals in the
interior.
The movement here is particularly
fortunate ln that it has not been
pestered with that oportunist itch that
came from the U. S. A. to Ontario,
thence west to the Pacific. Though not
so successful on the coast as inland
it spread east as far as Montreal. Some
parts of the Interior of these Eastern
Provinces may have been affected but
there is no sign of it around here.
While the comrades here have not
been so aggressive as they have been
on tbe Pacific, yet they have been just
as active, but in a different way. In
fact, in that respect I think they are
in advance of the west. We are just
commencing to adopt the method of
'hey have no time to familiarize them-[propaganda that the cc.mrades here
lelves with the works above referred
o, are poor propagandists, as com-
jared with the comrades who first do
iropaganda with themselves. They do
lot have the prestige or command the
-espect of the heathen, and therefore
■annot so successfully get an audience
o a meeting, sell books or take subs.
;or Socialist papers, though they usually work much harder than the better
losted comrades, but with less effect.
i"here they do dispose of books or
[tapers they usually give them away.
i"hen they send ta subs, they pay for
hem out of their own pockets—one of
he reasons why they always circulate
he cheapest. The chief reason howler, is because that is the only Socialist literature they know, the kind
hey read themselves, wben they do
•ead. I not only mean cheap ta the
lense of low price, for in that sense
mch literature ls dear at any price.
When I arrived here on the Atlantic
fcoast I find in every comrade's slave
pen that I have been into all the best
jooks of the movement, well soiled
|rrom use, men and women alike fa-
nillar with their contents. In comparing notes with the comrades I find
the movement started here about the
same time as it did on the Pacific
coast—about ten years ago—neither
one knowing of the existence ot the
other. I suppose they were both produced by the same economical and
historical force. The make up of the
|two movements are very similar, due
lANNUALPICNIC
A Socialist Party Picnic
Will be Held at
WHITE ROCK
June ■», 1911
Special train will leave
Great Northern Depot
at 9:00 a.m.
A Big Programme of Sports has
been arranged, with suitable list
of prizes.
| Tickets on sale at following places:
Empress Theatre, Sunday evenings.
Perry's Tailor Shop, 834 Pender W.'
Clarion Office, 579 Homer-Richards
Lane.
Adults $ J.25, Children 60c
have been using all the time, quiet,
individual propaganda. Mc. has also
said something like this: "As a rule,
worthy recruits are brought to the
movement by the individual propaganda of the worthy comrades among
their fellow slaves as they come in
contact with them."
Alex McKinnon, a worthy comrade,
a native of this place, one of the first
to take up a study of the movement
in this part, is the flrst Socialist Party
candidate for the Legislative Assembly
on this coast. He was nominated over
a year ago. The elections are on the
14th of June.
In their county convention a few
days ago, the comrades decided to
nominate two candidates for the Do
minion elections. There is no joint
meetings with the capitalist parties,
no challenges to debate the capitalist parties, but without any great
roar, we are having the best of meetings. The capitalist papers mention
us. Lots of good literature is being
sold. As far as I can gather, the cost
ef living Is as high here as it is out
west, but wages are higher out west
than here. So the standard of living
is lower here than lt Is out west, hence
the difficulty ln getting the sinews of
war.
On my return I expect to visit many
parts that I did not take ln on my
way out here. I start west tomorrow.
I received the following donations
from the stated comrades:
Calgary $15.00
Manitoba 12,00
Ontario 11.00
New Brunswick 10.00
I did not get any financial assistance
from the comrades in Saskatchewan
or Quebec. I thank the many comrades for comfortable accommodations
and the many other kind acts that go
to make life worth while for a Socialist
agitator.
C. M. O'BRIEN.
IN LIGHTER VEIN.
Some Socialists are in the Socialist
movement ln the hope that some day a
plum wlll fall to them from the Socialist tree. Methinks that so far as
Canada is concerned all that will fall
to these Individuals will be the deposits of the crows.
* a *
The Rev. C. W. Gordon recently
marched with the Highlanders at
Winnipeg church parade, with a bible
tucked neatly under his left arm. Pity
the reverend gentleman did not have a
gun tucked neatly under his right arm
just to show the relationship between
the Christian religion and militarism a
little plainer.
* * *
When a proletarian, performing no
useful function in society, helps him
self to the necessaries of life and is
arrested for so doing, members of his
class are not slow in branding him a
"thief." But if a member of the propertied class robs them of two-thirds of
the product of their labor, they will
take the first opportunity to call him a
"gentleman."
* a a
The board of directors of the St.
James Temperance Hotel, Winnipeg
comprises two millionaires and
charitably disposed "gentlemen." The
bedrooms of this hostelry are small,
with concerte floods, and each containing single bed, an apology for a
bureau and one chair. For this little
lot, accompanied by the nightly invl-
tatien to "attend service downstairs,"
the occupant pays $2.50 per week. And
as he is about to get Into bed, he Ib
comforted by a text from the bible. An
excellent sleeping draught, I presume.
* a j,
The inactivity of the average worker
to analyze the happenings of capitalism may be accounted for by the fact
that he is busily engaged enquiring as
to what will happen under Socialism.
"I am merely an instrument in the I
hands of my friends." R. P. Roblin, I
Premier, Manitoba. Who says capitalist j
politicians are not honest? ,
a a a
A certain branch of the I. L. P. inaugurated a Socialist Sunday School.
The choosing of the subjects for discussion in the adult class was put to a
democratic vote of its members. Por
first Sunday's subject some wanted one
of G. B. Shaw's plays, some wanted enlightening upon Shakespeare's "Tern
pest," whilst others preferred to hear
about physical culture, and one individual, evidently of a musical turn of
mind, wanted the subject to be "The
evolution of the piano." Every member of this Socialist Sunday School
adult class wanted to be taught anything at all except the three fundamental principles of Socialism. Eh!
Have Sunday Schools connected with
the S. P. of C? Well, I once suggested
having one in Winnipeg, but after receiving the above information, I never
repeated the offence. L. PICKUP.
Buying and selling at cost of production does not prevent robbery occurring. A laborer, not owning any
means of substinence, has to sell himself for his subsistence to those who
do own the means of wealth-production. Subsistence is the cost of his
daily needs, but he is robbed because
his use value to his masterB is five
times his exchange value (for subsistence). A farmer is robbed on the
same principle, he being merely one
of the laboring class. A farmer does
not own his wheat, he must nass it on;
a laborer passes the result of his toll
on; both incorporate their labor and
get paid one-fifth, or cost of subsistence. Sometimes a SLUMP occurs
where the farmer is paid in wheat
that has not gone further than the
amount of time he put into it, and Its
value is consequently very low. He
could not pass It on. p. R.
THE STRIKE
SIMPLY SOCIALISM
First of a Series of Articles describing Social Conditions,
their Cause and Cure.
The power of one class in society
to dominate another class is expressed only politically. In other words,
there is no power but political power.
Economic "power," so-called, is the
ability to produce wealth which ls not
a class, but a race, matter. The boss
is able to dictate to workmen on the
job, only because his authority to do
so is written in the State.
The enormous popularity of the
"general public" has once more been
demonstrated and the anxious regard
of the "friends of labor" forced on our
attention. All this has taken place
since the first announcement of a
general strike set for June 5th. The
gentry of the press, pulpit and spokesmen for the master class generally
have been kept busy trying to find expressions deep enough to convey their
tender solicitude for the welfare of
the workers—and the "public," of
course.
With regard to the "public," we feel
a good deal like that famous railroad
magnate when he exclaimed, "The
public be damned!" only long before
he said it pur portion of the public
was already damned, a"d doubly so
ever since ln having to stand for the
opinions of social parasites being
shoved down our throats in the name
of the "public." As to labor, we know
they are expected to say something
soothing occasionally, usually about
election time. They are paid to do
that. But there has been a note of
extreme concern, just as If they might
possibly be called upon to do some
real work themselves should the workers decide to take a rest. Sp.it was
quite natural for these parasites to
perceive ta that contemplated action
that which might menace their position on the back ot labor,
That they gave themselves needless
alarm they could hardly be expected
to know, since lt takes one hundred
years to get a really new idea into
most of their heads. That is why they
seek to remedy the evil of labor
troubles by vllllfylng some few individuals, making the cause seem a
personal grievance instead of collective. They don't have to know anything much of the economics of the
industrial trend, most parasites only
require a voracious appetite, but these
that live off labor excel in cunning,
and the employing class need them
in their business. Having nothing
new to say on the subject, they just
repeat, with variations, what they
have been saying ever Bince the first
strike was called by a labor union.
Therefore we read of appeals for peace
and harmony, that capital and labor
are brothers and should practice the
golden rule, etc. It would appear that
they are far more familiar with the
rule of gold than the golden rule, and j merely exists and wallows in the
A pronounced feeling of restlessness and chronic discontent is permeating tie entire social structure
these days, and is so self-evident that
even he who runs may read. A serious sickness is gnawing at the vitals
of society, gnawing with a persistence
that will not be denied.
Strikes, and rumors of strikes,
Bpring up persistently in all directions,
and will not down; and with time
theBe surface-bubbles grow larger and
more threatening in character.
Police batons and mounted cossacks
may cow the workers for the moment,
but the fires of anger and resentment
smoulder deep against the wretched
conditions in which they exist,—and
more so against the cause of them.
The waif on the street, and the tired
worker as he plods "home" from his
daily grind, look askance at the leisured occupants of the whirring motorcar and fleet four-in-hand as they dash
past,—and the look is scarcely one
of love and admiration.
At fiery furnace, in dust-choked factories and warehouses, in the rash
and glare of huge departmental stores
and commercial offices, ta tbe depths
and dangers of the mines, and in the
varied and various social toils which
this complex civilization exacts, the
workers eke out a miserable existence.
At Baden-Baden, or Bingen-on-the-
Rhlne, at the roulette wheels of
Monte Carlo or the bridge whist parties of their social sects, with champagne baths, internal and external,
and real pain aftermaths, the "cream
of society," the "powers-that-be," also
eke out their more or less miserable
existences.
Too much work, too little leisure,
and too little pleasure, on one hand;
too little work, and that useless, too
much leisure, and too much pleasure,
on the other hand. A strange distribution of a strange Bystem.
The class which does the work
:o-
the harmony has usually been of such
short duration that it might be likened to an armed peace except that on
labor's side there hasn't been any
arms worth noting. The dove of
peace has never fluttered over or lit
in labor's battles. Hitherto there has
never been any real peace unless it
was the peace of death, and it's a
different kind of bird that hovers and
lights then; no cooing dove, but a bird
of prey, the vulture of capitalism with
all its hideous flock of carrion feeding buzzards—the parasites of Its glorious institutions.
So far the victory has always been
with the enemies of the working class,
and it will be so as long as the forces
of labor seek to fight from the untenable position they now hold on the
Industrial field. Working people,
union or non-union, when you -strike
work you begin to fight a losing battle, and it is against a condition of the
labor market rather than the master
class that you contend, lt Ib that condition of the world's labor supply that
defeats you eyery time or makes even
an occasional victory an absolutely
empty one.
This condition of the labor market
is that at all times it is overstocked
even in the newest of countries. There
are more men than jobs, and the employers know it, so ought you. Were
this not so the wage system vw>uld
perish of Its own accord because labor
could demand the whole product ot
its efforts, and therefore no profits for
the owners of the machinery of production would remain and their ownership be a myth. It's no myth now,
however. Without your labor it is
nothing, but you must work around lt
to live.
The thing, then, to do Is to get possession thereof and to do that la a
political act, no matter whether it be
done through the ballot or otherwise.
The whole working class can get together on that proposition, and this
brief statement of the facts is the
position the S. P. of C. has endeavored
to present to all workers ever since
Its inception.
RAYNOR.
cial mire, while the class which does
no work merely lives the full gamut
of life and wallows in the manifold
luxuries which money can buy.
It needs no college-bred scientist to
distinguish a member of the working
class from a member of the employing
parasitic class.
Observe the worker, as he slouches
along! Ages of servitude have left
their stamp on the breed. Bent and
twisted in body and brain, with meekness and submission oozing out at
every point; clad in shoddy, and oft-
times little of that; under-fed and
over-worked; a true image of bis
Maker, the GREAT Industrial System
which breeds his spedes. Even Dame
Nature sets her brand on him in derision.
Observe the master as he struts
along! Spick and span from top to
toe in fashion's latest fads, with well-
creased pants that almost creak in
their rigidity; well-saved hands encased in gloves, lest contact with too
material things should spoil their
shapely whiteness; well-housed and
well-fed; crammed to a torn at his
select institutions, from whence all
wisdom emanates; straight in limb
and body; and easy and assured of
carriage, that bespeaks a well-served
master. Nature's brand in either extreme is seen.
The survival of the fittest? Well!
yes, of .the Attest rogue. The worker,
through over-work, runs to hands. The
capitalist, through over-eating, rnns
to stomach. And in like manner, the
politician to jaw, and the policeman
to feet.
Dragged from her semblance of a
home, woman docks to the mills and
factories to help eke out ber husband's,
brother's, father's meager pittance.
Or, perchance, thrown upon her own
resources, she breasts the industrial
whirl In a brave attempt to keep her
independence and womanhood intact.
Children, too, tender and plastic In
body and brain, are dragged from the
school and their romping games, and
cast on tho altar of profit, a sacrifice
to the great god Capital. Profit is
god,—and nothing else matters.
The painted harlot plies her hire
in the slums, and dark alley-ways, and
segregated districts of this great and
glorious civilization, spreading disease and death in her wake indiscriminately. No love of the game drives
her there. FoU environment; overmuch love and a misplaced confidence; a procurer's betrayal; or, as ls
more often the case, an over-stocked
industrial market,—and grim, dire
necessity. Her wares obtain a ready
market
Instability of employment and scant
wages make young men pause these
days ere launching themselves into a
matrimonial tangle and putting a millstone round their necks. Their personal maintenance and that of their
immediate kindred taxes their resources to the utmost. So they shun.;
the marriage tie and only meet their
sister slaves on a cold, commercial
basis.
In the "upper circles" of society the
germ is also seen. Marriages of convenience are the rule,—business convenience and the pride of titled trappings. Mutual love but seldom sets
her seal upon the contract, and only
then when other factors are satisfied.
Once the solemn farce is o'er, they
each follow their inclinations as lt
leads, in Iiassons, affinities and Platonic friendships, using the marriage
tie as a shield for a multitude of sins.
A truly praiseworthy system which
breeds cuckolds on one hand and
wedded prostitutes on the other.
Further still, as Engels puts it, they
not only take great pleasure in seducing one another's wives, they also
seduce the wives and daughters of
their dependents. Assuredly capital-
Ism should emblazon on their escutcheon the prostitute rampant. Titled
heads, presidential mummers, and
monied monarchs of the industrial
world walk abroad in guarded circumspection, lest some rebellious
spirit from the great unwashed should
take revenge upon their sacred personages for the injuries done his class.
The robber fears his victim and
dreads his awakening Intelligence.
The midnight thief and murderer
prowls the dim alleyways and unguarded homes, doing illegally what
his "betters" do in honest, lawful
fashion. Whereat their lordships are
highly incensed at the slums-.- imitation, i
Industrial crises, financial panics,
occur with clock-like regularity and •
at ever-increasing intervals, until lt
may be justly said today, they hava
become chronic.
Organized Industry, In the form of
combines and trusts, learned by experience to so regulate the output
that the market may not become over
sotcked,—except in labor power. Hungry hordes of unemployed tramp the
streets of the large industrial centers
and the highways and tic ways of the
country, searching in vain for a master. Their class have worked so hard
[these many years producing and inventing methods of production, that
their services are no longer required;
and while the warehouses and stores
are piled high with the products of
their clan, they must go without.
Drunkenness, and intemperance In
many things, are by far too common,—
the result of evil environment. Bad
men make bad whisky; and bad whisky makes bad men,—and women.
Tho fierce straggle for jobs makes
enemies of all. Each looks with suspicion at bis or her neighbor, as wrestling the bread of lire from hla hand.
Competition spreads disorder and
strife, where co-operation Bhould exist, as the bountiful earth yields abundance for all,—and millions more.
Chaos reigns supremo in this social
system of a great and glorious civilization. Society iB staxllng on Its head.
Do you know the reason why?
"GOUROCK."
Tbe strangest phenomenon of all
the ages is that workers should slop
to argue, when the world's wealth Is
theirs for the taking. Two
THE WESTERN CLARION, VANCOUVER BRlTISh COLUMBIA
SATURDAY, JUNE 10th, 1911.
IHE WESTERN CLARION
Pttblished every Saturday br the
••elalist Party of Canada, at the OfHor
mt the WesU-rn Clarion, Flaok Block
■aseiment, 166 Hastings Street, Ytuicou-
▼•X, B. C.
V08T OFFICE ADDRESS, BOX 1688.
SUBSCRIPTION:
aJH-00 Fer Year, 50 cents for Six Month*,
35 oenta for Three Months.
Strictly in Advance.
Bundles of 5 or more coplea, fer a
-p-erled of not less tlvan three mentha. At
the rate of one cent per copy per issue.
Advertising rat oh on application.
If you receive this paper, it ie paid
In making remittance hy cheque, ex-
abanire must be added. Address all
•Mninun. cat Ions and make alt money
•r*ara payable te
THB WESTERN CLARION.
Bra 1688 VanoonTer, B. O.
636
Watch the label on your paper. If this number is on lt,
your subscription expires the
next issue.
pation; of the latter to maintain exploitation, to hold mastery. By force,
potential or exercised, the latter hold
their sway. By force the former must
break It. That is all there is to the
class struggle.
THE EVOLUTION OF POWER.
SATURDAY, JUNE 10th, 1911.
NO CLASS STRUGGLE.
One Vancouver slave, on being asked whether he was participating in
the strike, replied, "Sure. I'm in on
the class struggle every time."
We admit we rather like his style.
His intentions are admirable. He is
in it as it looks to him like a class
■struggle, which indicates revolt, anyway, if not Intelligent revolt.
However, at the risk of being taken
to be hyper-critical, a risk we are not
much concerned about anyhow, we
feel impelled to take exception to his
knowledge of the class struggle. If
it were a mere matter of splitting
hairs about the correctness of his
terminology we could very well save
the wear and tear on the pencil, but
the point seems to us to be vital. For,
if this is a class struggle, Marx has
lived in vain.
To us it does not seem to bear the
remotest resemblance to a class struggle or even to be fought in a held
where any class struggle is possible.
True, the contestants are workers on
the one hand, capitalists on the other.
But neither of them are fighting as a
class. In fact, in the industrial field
the workers are not a class, they are
competitors, and, as such, no different
to competitors in other walks of life.
Tf they are to be classified at all they
must be lumped up with all others
who compete in the sale of wares.
For it is wares they are selling;
their power to labor, their brawn and
brain, in fact, their very selves. They
are selling these in competition with
one another. In their case, as with
competitors generally, competition
forces combination. They combine, in
their unions, to market their wares to
better advantage by somewhat moderating the keenness of the competition. They can do so only in the last
analysis by restricting the available
-supply of wares.
Jn the present instance this is perfectly clear. The issue is the "closed
shop." That is that employers shall
employ none but union labor. In other
■words, that these buyers shall not
buy outside of a certain restricted
market. If the closed shop can be
■enforced, then the sellers within this
restricted market can of course obtain a very much better price for their
wares.
We are quite prepared to admit,
indeed, to insist, that this is the proper
■ course for them to pursue as sellers
of labor power. On the other hand,
however, we are forced to concede that
the employers, as buyers of labor
power, are equally justified ln fighting
for the "open shop." That is, for liberty to buy in an unrestricted market
in which they may purchase these
wares to the best advantage. That
each party should consider the contentions of the other absolutely outrageous is also perfectly natural. In
fact it would be most astonishing If
they did not.
However, the merits or morality of
the matter do not concern us here,
They depend entirely on the point of
view, anyway. What we are endeavoring to point out Is that this Ib no
class struggle, but an effort of com-
l modlty seller to gain a point of vantage by restricting the bounds of the
market and therefore the available
supply of wares. Outside of this restricted area aro also sellers of wares,
■of wares of the same description.
Workers. Against whom, as well as
against the employers the struggle has
to be waged. A pretty class struggle!
A claBs struggle, manifestly, must
be "between classes. As sellers of
wareB, "wage-earners," or what you
will, the workers are competitors. Only
as exploited producers, as slaves, are
they a class. And so with the employers as buyers or sellers of wares they
are competitors. But as exploiters,
as masters, they are a class. The common or class InteroBt of the former
is to end exploitation, to win emaucl-
Evolution, social as well as organic,
is from the simple to the complex, and,
in the course of this evolution, all
aspects, atributes and functions of
society lose their primitive simplicity
and assume an intricate complexity
that readily lends itself to superficial
misinterpretation, and is with difficulty
to be correctly analysed. Thus with
power.
We can easily comprehend the
power of the early slave-master over
his slaves. We can conceive him
standing over them with upraised
spear, saying, in effect, "Work, or
die." By simple, naked, brute force
he compelled them to toil for his
benefit.
"Thou shalt serve thy master" is
the first commandment—the flrst
law—and, in the combination of slave
owners to enforce this law by their
joint brute force, we have the flrst
state. To that end the state has ex
isted from that day to this, however
much the means to that end may
have varied in the interval.
With the chattel slave system, the
mastery was direct in that it was the
person of slave himself that the
master owned. In that ownership
the state guaranteed him. Behind
the overseer stood the master; behind
the master, the state with its armed
force. A master might have a thousand slaves, anyone of them able to
kill him with his bare hands, but he
could drive and flog the thousand
with impunity. He held a weapon
more deadly than his forebear's spear
—the state. The slaves knew that,
dared they but raise their hands
against him, and retribution, savage
and merciless, would surely follow.
In tens of thousands the slaves of
Greece and Rome again and again rose
in revolt and sought to throw off the
yoke. In some cases they held out
for years. Eventually they were always crushed—by the state—the seat
of their masters' power.
Under the feudal system the mastery became Indirect. The masters
owned the land, and owned the serfs
because they were attached to the
land. The state again guaranteed the
master in his ownership of the land.
And also enforced the attachment of
the serfs to the master's land. They
were compelled to toll for their lord's
benefit and the lord held over them
the same weapon as the chattel slaveowner—the state. It was now the
seat of his power and he could say
"Work or die."
Today again things are changed.
The worker is neither owned In person nor attached to the land. But
yet ringing in his ears is the old adjuration, "Work or die." The masters
own the means by which alone today
the workers can produce the means
of life. Access to these means of production the workers must have ln
order to live, and access to them they
can have only as the servants of the
owners of the means of production.
To live the workers must sell themselves to the masters day by day;
must become slaves in exactly as
much as the chattel slave or the serf.
And must continue so doing so long
as the masters own the means of production. Behind the masters, as of
old, stands the state, guaranteeing
them in their ownership of the means
of production, and thus giving them
power to say to the' workers ln effect,
"Work or die."
And to work or die shall be the
slaves' alternative until, realizing their
needs and their potential Btrength,
they shall seize the seat of power.
Then their decrees will be law, to
be obeyed without question, for they
will have the power.
This tendency ls reflected throughout Christian literature and scholastic
training. Authorized histories deal
largely in gore, while it Is a poor novel
indeed in which heads do not fly off
or blood flow to the glory of Christ.
Most of our books for boys are records
of different parties carving each other
up in sanguinary conflicts. In all
these squabbles, the "Prince of Peace"
figures largely.
There is a cause, of course. Prog-
life, it will be noticed, is coincident
with the attainment of perfection in
the art of peddling, which has reached
its greatest heights among Christians.
This fact is neither to be deplored nor
admired. It merely is. The Christian
tendency to brag of pacific and magnanimous intentions while advancing
solely along the lines of brute force,
,may be due to commendable modesty,
or to the basic principle of hawking
wares, which is to represent things as
they are not; that is none of our affair. What is our affair is that the
working class, being vendor of nothing
but its labor-power, has no interest in
the advancement of the world's business affairs, nor in the manner in
which they are furthered, for its
greatest benefit is to be derived, not
from the sale of that labor-power, but
from its retention for the use of its
owner.
When, by becoming possessors of the
earth, the workers shall expend their
energies in their own interests, then
will their best endeavors be used, not
to increase their capacity to kill, but
to provide greater comforts and luxuries for themselves, and thus generally to improve the condition of the
human race.
WHY WE OPPOSE THIS PEACE
MOVEMENT.
MISDIRECTED ENERGY.
No sooner does patient mechanical
research bring forth a contrivance
capable of lightening humanity's burdens; no sooner does the laboratory
of Bclence uncover a new principle
that may be beneficently applied, than
the "wise" men of the earth sit down
to solemnly figure out how fast they
can kill each other with them. Nowhere is the practice so much in
vogue as in Christian nations.'
It is said that Socialism is purely
destructive. That may be, but what
is Christian civilization? Wherein
has the Christian population of the
globe made its greatest progress? In
instruments of destruction. Its economic devolopment, while rapid, ls
everywhere stagnated by narrow
property Interests. Not so with machines for slaughter. The invention
of theBe haB received everywhere the
greatest stimulus, so much so that one
ls scarcely completed before It Is obsolete. What was the lesson taught
Japan by Christianity? Certainly not
peace, good-will, love, justice or any
such maudlin buncombe, but good,
modern, up-to-date methods of killing.
The Industrial development of Japan
Is adolescent compared with that of
her military and naval establishments.
The hypocrisy of the English race
is proverbial. At intervals they rise
to such a height in this direction as
to draw upon themselves the ridicule
of the whole world—as when, drooling
a sickening stream of sanctimony, they
circumscribed the exploitation of the
West Indian slaves, forbidding their
masters to employ them more than
eight hours a day, while children of
tender years, of our own race, in our
own country, toiled for sixteen hours
a day In the mill-hells of the Midlands.
The recurring frenzy of nauseating
pretence again sweeps over the land,
and this time its infection spreads beyond our shores. They have caught it
in America; they suspire the bacillus In
Germany; In Australia the complaint
becomes epidemic. "Peace, sitting under her olive" is the subject of this
amorous outbreak, and you might
shout "mad dog!" in the streets and
nobody would take any notice, because
every eye ls fixed, on the beautiful
form "sitting under her olive," and
every lip is outraging her name.
Peace, forsooth! What has peace to
do with you, workingmen of the world?
What horror has war that "peace" has
not accustomed you to ? "The red rain
of death!" Ah! go into the mine and
you will see it. "The awful rending of
strong men's bodies!" The shunter
sees it every day. "The fearful cost
of human life!" The "Thunderer"
was built in "peace" at the cost of a
thousand accidents, from kesl-laying
to launch. Every plate in her great
hull would sweat blood of those who
mined it and smelted it and forged it,
were the day when "the sea shall give
up Its dead" to come upon us tomorrow. Every girder that gives strength
to her stupendous form, and every
rivet that holds them together, have
been drenched with the blood of workingmen, at every stage of their winning and fashioning, before ever they
come to crush and mangle workers'
bodies in tho shipbuilder's yards. And
every gun which is to be put aboard
her, and the engines and fittings and
coal—all these are to be paid for with
workers' life and limb; so that when
she leaves port a complete thing, she
may do so as an emblem of capitalist
peace: for it is very likely that she
will never receive such libations of
blood in battle as she has had poured
over her on the stocks.
Peace! The snuffling humbug of the
word on capitalist lips! At the very
moment they are mouthing It most
unctuously they are drafting police
and military against the miners ln
South Wales, massing troops on the
borders of Mexico, and raising an im
mense fund to fight the implement
workers ln Australia. And while the
British Liberal Government are making the remote corners of the earth
echo and re-echo with the empty nothing, "Peace!" they are voting the enormous sum of £75,000,000 for war—
on the principle that they'll have to
fight for it.
Strange, is it not, that ln all this
cry of "peace" but one Incentive shows
itself? "The burden of armaments." It
is the treasure, not the blood, that
causes the capitalist head to ache. No
wonder—for treasure is the master's
while the blood is the workers. £75,-
000,000 in a year is a mighty drain,
and the Government that Is forced
to exact it ls In a precarious position.
So they scream "peace" by way of a
soft answer to turn away wrath—and
also In the certain knowledge that the
result wlll demonstrate that peace,
even as the capitalist understands it,
is possible only at the cost of crush
ing armaments—or national extinction.
It is significant that no hope Is held
out of a "peace treaty" except with
America—a country with whom all
serious differences have already been
composed, against whom, in addition,
Britain would hurl her might ln vain,
and who could inflict damage, where
they can Inflict It at all, with impunity
They could starve ns out by stopping
their own and Canadian wheat at the
granaries. It is admitted that on the
day when the States and Canada want
to join hands the "mother country"
has got to submit. On that day the
treaty becomes in all eyes what from
the flrst it must be in reality—waste
paper. It Is easy for two nations who
cannot fight, to make a treaty that
they won't.
But the case ls different with, say
Germany. No responsible person suggests a treaty with that country—yet
it Is Germany that has made a British Liberal Government increase its
annual Naval Estimates £14,000,000 in
five years. No derision waits the Minister who dares suggest such a treaty,
for the farce would be too apparent.
Just as a treaty with America brings
peace no nearer because the two
could not fight, treaty or no treaty, so
a treaty with Germany would bring no
peace nearer, because in the face of
conflicting interests (without which
they would not fight In any event), the
treaty would not be worth the cost of
its inscription. The humbug, therefore, of the cry of "Peace" and "Disarmament," is apparent.
There comes a time, of course, when
it becomes cheaper to submit to a foreign rival than to arm against him.
What course our ruling class will take
when the cost of "keeping up the two-
power standard" is. dearer than exploiting native workers under foreign
rule is foreshadowed by the course of
the French master class at the time
of the commune. Their patriotism will
quickly enough then take the form of
reduced armaments—the tacit confession that they would sooner "wear the
yoke" In humility than seriously suffer
in pocket.
Meanwhile the Liberals, in their
desire to cover themselves, have been
loyally supported by the Labor Party.
These have shouted "peace" with the
best of them, and they lose no opportunity of implying that It Is only the
"burden of armaments" which prevents the Liberals "sweeping poverty
from every hearth." They thus kill
a number of birds with one stone.
First the Liberals are absolved directly it is discovered that their efforts
for general disarmament are without
avail; secondly the Labor .Members
put themselves right with all those of
their constituents who are, or who
think they are, groaning under the burden of armaments, and thirdly they
throw dust in the eyes of the rank and
file of the Labor Party and Trade Unionists on whose backs they have
climbed to place—and pelf.
Of course, a show of consistency had
to be made In the House. The I. L. P.
had organized 250 meetings on the
question of nrmaments, so something
was expected. And something happened.
Exactly one-half of the Labor Members In Parliament came up to scratch
to save the face of their party by voting against the Liberals' immense
Naval Estimates. The other half (save
two who voted for them!) stood out
of It to oblige the Liberals!
Keir Hardies says the party were
bribed, the Osborne Bill being the
price of their defection, and he should
know. But we wonder how many
would have opposed the Estimates had
they been really in danger. How many
would dare have gone back to their
Liberal constituencies with the confession on their lips that they had
helped to defeat a Liberal Government? Not many, we venture to
guess.—Socialist Standard.
Socialist Directory
Every looal of tho Socialist Pnrtv of
Canada should run a card under this
head. Ji.oo per month. Secretaries
please onto.
DOMINION EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Socialist Party of Canada. Meets
every alternate Monday. L>. G. McKenzie, Secretary, Hex 16SS, Vancouver, B. C.
BRITISH COLUMBIA PROVINCIAL
Executive Committee, Socialist Party
of Canada. Meets every alternate
Mondav. D. G. McKen/.le. Secretary,
Box 11188, Vancouver. B. C.
ALBERTA PBOVINCIAL EXECUTIVE
Committee, Socialist Party of Canada.
Meets every alternate Monday in Labor
Hall, Eighth Ave. East, opposite post-
office. Secretary wlll lee pleased to
answer nny communications regarding
the movement In the province. F.
Danby, Secretary, Box 647. Calgary,
MANITOBA PBOVINCIAL EXECUTIVE
Committee: Notice—This card ls inserted for the purpose of getting
"YOU" interested In the Socialist
movement. SOCIALISTS are always
members of the Party; so if you are
desirous of becoming a member, or
wish to get any Information, write the
secretary, W. H. Stebblngs. Address,
316 Good Street, Winnipeg.
SASKATCHEWAN PBOVINCIAL EX.
eeutlve Committee, Socialist Party of
Canada. Meets every first and third
Saturday in the month, S:00 p.m., at
head'iuarters. Main Street, North Battleford. Secretary will answer any
communications regarding the movement In tills Province. A. GlUleinees-
ter, Secretary, Box 201, North Battleford, Sask.
MATTAWA, ONT.
Comrade:—Thanks for "Excerpts
From Oscar Wilde." ThlB Is but typical of the excellent standard you are
maintaining, and one that is bound to
secure recognition ln due time from
the poor self-blinded plugs. Yours ln
revolt,
C. C. WELLERMAN.
The week's sub-gatherers;
C. M. O'Brien, Glace Bay, N. S 12
| J. C. Burgess, City 7
C. McM. Smith, Brooklyn, N. Y. .. 3
J. D. Houston, en route 2
Singles:
Alf. Johnson, Silver Creek, B. C.j
Lestor, North Battleford, Sask.; A. G.
McCallum, Ottawa, Ont.; Frank Blake,
Edmonton, Alta.; EH Waterson, Salmon Arm, B. O.J A. R. Doe, Dawson,
Y. T.j H. Samson, John Rivers, Hugh
Dixon, Joe Johnson, Andrew Johnson,
City. i
Bundles, etc:
Local Reglna, Sask., bundle and
card $2.00
Local Rossland, B. C. " " 6.50
ATENTS
artnsnnmM^iii.H..
we solid-, the mislness or Manuiaciu-rere,
Rnpinecru nnd others who realize the advisability of having their Patent business transacted
by JUzpeita. Preliminary ndvicc free. Chargei
moderati. Our Inventor's Adviser sent upon
request. Marion & Marion, New York I,ife Bldg,
Montreal: nud Washington, DC, U.S-A.
MARITIME PROVINCIAL EXECUTIVE
Committee, Socialist Ptirty of Canada,
meets every second and fourth Sundays in the Cape Breton office of the
Party, Commercial Street, Glace isay,
N. S. Dan Cochrane, Secretary, Box
491, Glace Bay. N. S.
LOCAL PERNIE, 8. P. of C., HOLDS
educational meeting*-; in the Miner.*.'
Union Hall, Victoria Ave., Fernie,
every Sunday evening at 7:45. Business meeting first Sunday in each
month, same place, at 2:\)Q p.m. David
Paton, Secretary, Box 101.
LOCAL OREENWOOD, B. C, NO. 9,
S- P. of Ci, meets every Sunduy evening at Miners' Union Hall, Greenwood.
Visiting comradea invited to call. C.
G. .Johnson, Secretary.
LOCAL SANDON, B. C, NO. 3f, S. P. OP
C. Meets every Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.
in the Sandon Miners' Union Hall.
Communications to be addressed
Drawer K, Sandon, B. C.
LOCAL SOUTH PORT GEORGE, B.C.,
Xo. CI, meets every Friday night at
8 p.m. in Public Library Hoom. John
Mclnnis, Secretary; Andrew Allen,
Organizer,
LOCAL VANCOUVER, B. C., NO. 1, S.
P. of C. Business meetings every
Tuesday evening at headquurters, 2237
Main Street. F, Perry, Secretary, Box
LOCAL VANCOUVER, B. C., NO. 45,
Finnish. Meets every second and
fourth Thursdays in the month at 2237
Main Street. Secretary, Wm. Myntti.
LOCAL VERNON, B. C, NO. 38, S. P.
of C. Meets every Tuesday, S:00 p.m.
sharp, at L. O. L. Hail, Tronson St
W. H. Giimore, Secretary.
LOCAL VICTORIA, B. C, NO. 3, S. P.
of C. Heading room and headquarters, *
131 J» Government St., Hoom 2, over ,
Collister's Gun Store. Business meetings every Tuesday, S p.m. Propaganda meetings every Sunday at Crystal Theatre. T. Gray, Secretary.
LOCAL CALGARY, ALTA., NO. 4, S. P.
of C. Meetings every Sunday at 8
p.m. in the Labor Hall, Barber Block,
Eighth Ave. K. (near postofllce). Club ,
and reading room. Labor Hall. Geo.
Hossiter, Secretary, Box 647.
LOCAL COLEMAN, ALTA,, NO. 9.1
Miners' Hall and Opera House. Propa-I
ganda meetings at 8 p.m. on the first J
and third Sundays of the month. Busi-1
ness meetings on Tliursduy eveningsjj
following propaganda meetings at 8.
Organizer, T. Steele, Coleman, Alta.;,,
Secretary, Jas. Glendennlng, Box 63,fl
Coleman. Alta. Visitors may receive I
information any day nt Miners' Hall.I
from Com. W. Graham, Secretary oil
U. M. W. of A.
LOOAL EDMONTON, ALTA., NO. 1, 0.1
P. of C. Headquarters 622 First St.]
Business and propaganda meetings i
every Thursday at 7:30 p.m. sharp. 1
Our reading room is open to the pub-fl
lie free, from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily, f
Secretary, A. Farmilo, 622 First St.,
Organizer, W. Stephenson.
LOCAL LADYSMITH NO. 10, S. P. of
C. Business meetings every Saturday,
7 p.m., in headqunrters on First Ave.
J, H. Burrough, Box 31, Ladysmith.
B. C.
LOCAL MICHEL, B. C, NO. 16, 8. P.
of C, holds propaganda meetings
every Sunday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. in
Crahan's Hall. A hearty invitation is
extended to all wage slaves within
reach of us to attend our meetings.
Business meetings are held the first
and third Sundays of each month at
10:30 a.m. In the same hall. Party
organizers take notice. A. S. Julian,
Secretary,
LOCAL MOYIE, B. C., NO. 30, MEETS
second Sunday, 7:30 p.m., in McGregor
Hall (Miners* Hall). Thos. Huberts,
Secretary.
LOCAL NELSON, S. P. of C, MEETS
every Friday evening nt S p.m., ln
Miners' Hull, Nelson, B. C. I. A. Austin, Secretary.
LOOAL LETHBRIDGE, ALTA., NO. IB, I
S. P. of C. Meets first and third Sun- t
days in the month, at 4 p.m., in |
Miners' Hall. Secretarv, Chas. Peacock, Box 19S3.
LOCAL REGINA, SASK., NO. 6. MEETS I
every Sunday at 7:30 p.m. ln Trades
Hall, Searth Street. Business meet-
ll.ga second and fourth Fridays at 8
p.m.. Trades Hull. Secretary, B. Simmons, Box 1046.
LOCAL BRANDON, MAN., NO. 7, 0. P.
of C. Heudquarters, No, 10 Nation
Block, Hossur Ave. Propaganda meeting, Sunday at S p.m.: business meeting, second nnd fourth Mondays at 8
p.m.; economic class, Sundays at 3
p.m.; speakers' class, Wednesday at
8 p.m.;. algebra class, Friday at 8
p.m.; debating class, first und third
Mondays at S p.m. D. France, Organizer, 1126 Victoria Ave.
LOCAL NEW WESTMINSTER, B. C.,
No. 15, S. P. OF O.—Headquarters
Boom 3, Dupont Block, over Northern
Crown Bunk. Propaganda meeting
every Sunday, Crystal Tln-ntre, 8 p.m.
Business meeting every Monday. 8 p.
m. B. W. Spnrke, Kecordlng Secretary; H. Gilchrist, Organizer; J. C.
Williams, Financial Secretury. ..
resa in facilities for the destruction of
LOCAL PRINCE RUPERT, B. C, No. 53,
S. P. of C, meets every .Sunday In
hall in Empress Theatre Ellock at 2:00
p.m. L. H. Gorham, Secretary.
LOCAL REVELSTOKE, B. C, NO. 7~*
S. P. of C. Business meetings at Socialist headquarters fourth Thursdays
of each month. B. F. Gaynuin, Secre-
izer; B. F. Gayman, Secretary,
tury.
LOCAL ROSSLAND, NO. 25, S. P. of C,
meets in Miners' Hail every Sunday at
7:30 p.m. E. Campbell, Secretary. P.O.
Box 674. Hossland Finnish Branch
meets in Finlanders' Hal), Sundays at
7:30 p.m. A. Sebble, Secretary, P.O.
Box 54, Hossland.
LOCAL WINNIPEG, MAN., VtO. 1. S. P.
of C. Headquarters, 528 1/2 Main St,
Boom 2, next Dreamland Theatre.
Business meeting every alternate
Monday evening at S p.m.; propaganda
meeting every Wednesday nt S p.m.;
economic class every Sunday afternoon, 3 p.m. Organizer. Hugh Lald-
low, Room 2, 528 1/2 Alain St. Secretary, J. W. Hillings, 270 Young St
LOCAL OTTAWA, No. 8, 0. P. OP C.
Business meetings first Sunday in
month In open air, followed by a picnic during summer months. Propaganda meetings every Saturday night
at 8 p. m., at the corner of McKenzie
Avenue and Hideau Street. Sum Hor-
witii, Secretary, 374 Llsgar Street, Ottawa; phone 277 or 3229.
LOCAL GLACE BAY, NO. 1, OP N. 0.
Business und propugunda meeting
every Thursday at 8 p.m. in Macdon-
uld's Hull, Union Street. All are welcome. Alfred Nash, Corresponding"
Secretary, Glace Bay; Wm. Sutherland, ,
Organizer, New Aberdeen; H. G. Ross,
Financial Secretary, office in D. N.
Brodie Printing Co. Building, Union
Street.
599
F. PERRY
TAILOR
834 Pender St. Vancouver
To Canadian Socialists
On account of Increased postal
rates we are obliged to make the
subscription price of the International Socialist Review In Canada
11.20 a year Instead of 11.00. Wa
can, however, make the following;
special offers:
For (3.00 we will mall three
copies of the Review to one Canadian address for one year.
For 70 cents we will mall ten
ooples of any one Issue.
For 13.00 we will mall the Review one year and the Chicago
Dally Socialist for one year.
CHAR-LEI K. XBBB ft COMFAaTT
134 West KlnzleSt., Chicago.
i\Sttm THE CAFETERIA
305 Cambie Street
The best of everything properly
cooked.
Chas. Mulcahey, Prop.
<*54
NOW READY.
"Manifesto of the 3. P. of C."
Price—10 cents per copy or 76 cents
per doz. (to subscribers to Publishing Fund, 6 cents).
"The State and Government."
Price five cents per copy or 25 cents
per doz. (To subscribers, |1.00 per
hundred.).
GREAT BOOKS BY
GREAT MEN
Riddle of the Universe, by
Haeckel 25c
Life of Jesus, Kenan 25c
Age of Reason, Paine 25c
Merrie England 20c
God and My Neighbor,
Blatchford 25c
Origin of Species, Darwin.. 25c
Ingersoll's Lectures, each.. 25c
Evolution of the Idea of God,
Grant Allen 25c
Postage prepaid on books.
The People's Bookstore
152 Cordova St. W.
DENTIST
W. J. CURRY
Room 501
Dominion Trust Bldg.
PRICE LIST OF 8UPPLIE8 .-
(To Locals.)
Charter (with necessary supplies to start Local) $5.00
Membership Cards, each M
Duea Stamps, each 10
Platform and application blank
per 100 JS
Ditto In Flnniah, par 100 .50
Ditto In Ukranlan, per 100 JO
ConstItut ns, per dozen, 50c.
Ditto, Finnish, per dozen SO
m®®®®®®?*®®®®®®®®®®®®®®^®®®®®**
iso«N;nlQ^'- _.
Uf:ST jN B.C." cKsA>RS SATURDAY, JUNE 10th, 1911.
THE WESTERN CLARION. VANCOUV ER. BRITISH COLUMBIA
Three
THE SOCIALIST PARTY OF CANADA
This Page Is Devoted to Reports of Executive Committees, Locals
and General Party Matters—Address All Communications to
D. G. McKenzie, Sec, Box 1688, Vancouver, B. C.
"THE MEEK SHALL INHERIT THE
EARTH."
REPLY TO A. PERCY CHEW, ON
THE FARMER QUESTION.
Comrade A. Percy Chew's article in
Clarion No. 634, of May 27th, Is deserv.
ing of comment. Of all that has been
written in the Clarion of late on the
position of the farmer, this Ib certainly
the richest. Comrade Chew claims
the farmer is no proletarian. He makes
no distinction between the farmer who
farms for a living on a quarter or half
section, and the modern capitalist
farmer who simply acts as a superintendent. It Is the former, only, whom
I Intend to deal with and to whom Socialism would be a benefit.
If the farmer is not a worker he
must be a capitalist. According to the
Marxian theory a capitalist Is he who
lives by the exploitation of labor power. Does that flt the working farmer?
He says a very large percentage of
Canadian farmers own their places and
machinery. Granting even this, although It shows an utter lack of understanding of the real position the
most of the farmers are in, I must refer Comrade Chew to Vol I., Page 47,
of Marx's "Capital," wherein it is stated that a thing can be a use-value with,
out having value, whenever its utility
to man is not due to labor. This Ib
!the case with land. Land is not capital. As for owning some of the tools
ifor production—well, how about the
mechanic with his tool chest, or the
miner with his pick, Is he a capitalist?
He claims the farmer need not sell
his labor-power, his product is his, he
lean either keep it or sell It. I should
like Com. Chew to come out on the
prairie with the result of some previously exchanged labor-power in the
shape of hard cash, pay for the privilege of working a piece of land, get
himself some tools and motive-power,
grow grain and turnips, and keep
them. In order to live he could perhaps feast on some boiled grain and
turnips, but how would he acquire the
rest ot his necessaries if not by exchanging the product of his labor?
How long would he last? About as
long as a frost in June.
The fact Is, that while the farmer
is not under an Immediate boss, but
appears independent, he is so only in
appearance. Under the capitalist system the farmer will exert himself far
more if left In this state of semi-independence. He has his steady job, and
he knows it. He works longer hours
than any other wage-slave and would
centalnly throw up the job In disgust,
f driven by an overseer.
In our social production the farmer
Is only a cog in the wheel. What the
[farmer produces is not commodities,
but raw material for the manufacture
of commodities. A commodity is not
roduced until it is in the hands of the
'consumer. It ls here where the farmer
begins to be exploited. On account of
the magnitude and complexity of their
lture he cannot own individually the
•equisite machinery for storing and
ransporting his grain or cattle to the
market. If he sells a car-load of grain,
e has the privilege of selling it either
[to the buyer on the street or ship it to
he terminal. In either case he pays
he storage and freight.
Now what is transportation? Marx
|sayB in "Capital," Vol. II., Page 169, ex-
senses of circulation (transportation),
o not add any value to a commodity.
hey are dead expenses of capitalist
production. The railroad, therefore,
reates no values, although It performs
necessary social function. Granting
he men who operate those roads the
ull value of their labor-power (I don't
ant it all for the farmer), how long
ould, for instance, the C. P. R. have
o operate its road in order to produce
|a surplus of some fourteen millions of
ollars, without carrying freight and
assengers? The same with the grist
ill, not to mention a whole horde of
useless parasites who, under the capitalist system squeeze themselves between the producer and consumer.
(Most people make the mistake in
laiming that agriculture begins and
.ends on the farm. They do not con-
Eider the railroads, grist mills, etc.,
[as subsidiary agricultural industries
[which lend themselves so admirably to
e extraction of surplus-value under
private ownership. Some farmers are
iven sure they are cheated when buy-
fing their machinery, while some may
be wrong, others are right. In this Instance we would have to deal with
[each case individually. Let Comrade
hew redd "Capital," Vol. I., Page 181
refully, and see if he can figure it
.out It looks bad, very bad, to show
be white feather and condemn the
[farmer to eternal perdition, just because some of us think the law of val-
ie will not fit. The law of value rehires study.
Does Comrade Chew really believe
that the dealers buy the farmers' produce without getting just a little bit
lot surplus-value?
The farmer knows that the shoe is
pinching him somewhere, although he
cannot locate the exact Bpot. AH he
wants Is the knowledge of Marxian
economics In order to becopie a good
Socialist.
Comrade Chew's attempt to usher in
the Co-operative Commonwealth would
be a lame attempt Indeed If he tried to
leave out the farmer, who forms a
large part of the working population
in every civilized country and more so
(n Canada. Where would the class-conscious workers recruit themselves?
From the slum-proletariat of our large
cities or from the Independent Labor
Party?
JOS. EFFLER.
(Circulation does not mean transportation, which does add value to
commodities. Would advise Comrade
Effler to read all of that section beginning Page 169.—Ed.)
REGINA, SASK.
Comrade,—Comrade Stokes addressed an Interested crowd of slaves on
Sunday, May 28th, on "Faith, Hope
and Charity," and showed how it is
very necessary from the capitalist
viewpoint for the wage slaves to have
faith in a ruling class to provide them
with a job and through that food, clothing and shelter, the slaves' portion.
Also how the hope of everlasting joy
in the sweet bye and bye was very
good for the working class, providing
they don't spoil their chanceB by getting unruly whilst here below. As
for charity, we should be very thankful for them returning to us something
to which we have no right, seeing
that we get the market price for what
we have to sell, and under a slave
system we have no right to any more,
so we should be very thankful to our
masters when they are charitably disposed. The remarks drew out an interesting discussion afterwards. We
received another lost sheep into our
fold and are educating several more
by the looks of things.
Yours for the revolution,
B. SIMMONS.
LESTOR REPORTS.
Have recently addressed meetings
at North Battleford, Dundurn, Payn-
ton, Regina and Swift Current. The
movement in the province Is going fine
and we daily discover new comrades.
Addressed a meeting of farmers five
miles from Swift Current on June 1st
on the law of value. This subject is
rather dry, but they were intensely
Interested and after two hours of it
begged me to go on and give them
some more. If any one had told me
two years ago that a bunch of farmers
would listen to a talk on Socialism for
two hours, and some of them drive
twenty-five miles for the pleasure of
doing so, I could not have believed
them. Whatever may be the farmer's
position, he is taking his place in the
Socialist party and he is worth having
when you get him.
Time and tide are with us now. Let
us spread every strip of canvas we
possess. The breeze of revolt Is beginning to blow. With Socialism at
the helm, the harder It blows the
better.
LESTOR.
This statement is attributed to a
Nazarene carpenter, but to our lay
mind lt has the stuffy and unwholesome smell of a church about it: a
church in authority and wishing to
keep the herd in its proper place. St.
Mark, of jovial memory, playfully associates this quotation with the British
nation, and as the real nation Is the
element which digs and hews and
blasts it into shape, no doubt Mark
was nearer the truth than he imagined. We believe the meek shall
inherit the earth, that is, the meek of
all nations.
The ordinary interpretation of this
text, of course, is that by remaining
meek they shall ultimately come into
possession of this erratic globule of
creation, and this interpretation we
unhesitatingly set down as an error, a
trick, a damned lie. The meek will
get a smack in the mouth every time;
they will get their pants kicked off
them; they will live a dog's life and
die a dog's death, as it was in the
beginning, is now, and ever shall be.
The proof Is historical.
However, as we said before, we
believe the meek shall Inherit the
earth, but they shall inherit the earth
only as soon as they are determined
to quit their meekness and demand
from the arrogant plutocracy the restitution of all those Instruments and
factors of wealth production which
have been slowly filched from them In
the past.
When the workers realize the mighty
bluff which has been spooned into
them by ministers of state and ministers of religion; when they arouse
themselves and shake off their cursed
and contemptible meekness, then, and
not till then, will there be a gleam of
hope that they will one day Inherit
the earth and all that therein is. At
present the wage plug at the polls is
the meekest thing we know of.
GEORGE F. STIRLING
"The Provisional Government of the
District of Altar announces that seven
officers convicted of outrageous and
unwarlike acts were shot and killed
this afternoon while attempting to
escape."—New York Times.
"UNITED WE STAND."
MAKE US TRULY THANKFUL.
DESMOND REPORTS.
Since last report have been doing
mostly street and literature propaganda. The street crowds were large
and attentive. The new manifesto of
the party is a winner and can be sold
without any trouble if comrades will
only get out and try. The other night,
while a comrade from the States was
speaking on the street, I disposed of
fifteen of them in a few minutes. Am
now resting a sore throat for a few
days before taking In the new mining
districts round Ymir, Salmo and Sheep
('reek, which have not been touched
since last fall. DESMOND.
DEWBERRY, ALTA.
Just a few lines to let you and the
Comrades know that Dewberry Local
is still alive and doing a little ln the
scrap. Last Sunday we held a propaganda meeting at a friend's house and
had a good meeting. There were about
21 farmers there to llBten to our message. Com. Anderson held the floor
for awhile, also Com. Tonkin and myself. There were lots of questions asked and answered to the questioners'
satisfaction, The farmers are ready
for the revolutionary dope; so much so
that they asked us to come again, so
we will be holding another meeting
there in about a month.
Come, you wage slaves, wake up, or
the farm slave will get into the fray
ahead of ye. We have bought and distributed about $3 worth of literature
In this constituency, and If things go
ahead in the future 0. K„ I think one
Qf us will be In Edmonton assisting
Charlie In the gas-house. Yours In
the Bcrap.
C. W. SPRINGFORD,
We live and learn. The other day
the writer was called upon to go out
to a small burg in the Kootenays to
expound the revolutionary thought.
After the spiel, he was invited to supper with a "comrade." As for the
supper, it was all right in its way,
much better than the average working
class "fodder." The good comrade's
wife had done her best. There was ham
and cold beef and tongue, with a nice
little salad. Now, I had spieled for
about an hour and twenty minutes by
the clock and that feed looked good.
We gathered round the table and I for
one was prepared to enjoy the spread.
The "comrade" was at -one end of the
"board," his "better half" at the other.
After we were all seated the comrade
raised his hand and hung down his
head—I can't describe the performance
any other way. Everyone else did
likewise. I wondered what was coming. Then the "comrade," in a mon-
otenous voice and with what he probably considered a reverential tone, delivered himself as follows: "Oh Loard,
for what we are about to receive make
us trooly thankful." Then everyone
bobbed up their heads again and the
ham and trimmings were dished out.
But somehow the "cream was off"
for me: It seemed as if the whole
thins had depreciated fifty per cent. I
have often been too tired to eat—most
of us who have travelled the thorny
road of wagedom have had that experience—but this time I wasn't that;
perhaps the best way would be to say
I was too disgusted to eat. Just size
it up. Here is a wage slave—working
ten hours per day. and hard woi-k at
that, with a daily wage of *" 7" to j
While men of wealth and titles great,
At stately banquets dine;
How many daily meet their fate
In factory, mill and mine?
While maid3 of fashion ride around
In silks and jewels rare;
Oh! think how many lives are ground
Into the things they wear.
While poodle dogs in fancy gowns
Hear famous "Melba" sing;
The cry of hungry children drowns
The joyful voice of Spring.
But why should kings and rulers care
How we poor sinners live?
While eaBe and pleasure is their
share,
To us, the work they give.
When workers of the world unite
And seize the helm of State,
Then greed and profit bid good-night,
And meet a timely fate.
We'll shift the burden that we bore,
Tho' lords and princes rave,
And we'll dispense for evermore
With master and with slave.
Oh, speed the day you workers all!
You slaves of wealth and power;
And at the sound of freedom's call,
"Improve each shining hour."
J. A. MACDONALD,
* a *
Those who think the average
farmer owns "his" wheat are blind to
facts. The average farmer, growing
a hundred acres of wheat, ls barely
able to pull through till he grows the
next year's crop. Now, if he owned
one hundred acres of wheat and paid
next year fifty acres of wheat to get
the one hundred acres of wheat
ground into flour, at an average of a
ton to the acre he. would have enough
flour to do him and his wife and family for seventy-five years. One more
such crop and the other fifty acres of
wheat to pay for trouble of exchange
and ne would have food of other kinds
and clothing for self and family for at
least twenty yeara. So about five
years at one hundred tons a year
would, If he OWNED it, give him and
his family all they wanted all their
own natural lives. But you know his
nose is always to the agricultural
grindstone and her's, too, and all the
kids as well; and only a bare living-
subsistence—the reward of the ignorant mass of toilers.
# , *
A scientist is neither an OPTIMIST
nor a PESSIMIST, but is one who considers facts and conditions as they are.
He knows that NECESSITY COMPELS; AND NECESSITY IS THE
MOTHER OF ALL INVENTION. It is
NECESSITY that causes enconomic
changes, and not optimistically hoping
nor pessimistically bemoaning.
How Inconsistent laborers are when
they sell their LABOR-POWER only to
their masters and then go and LABOR
for them. After they have sold their
labor-power at the cost of ua production, why don't they take it easy and
just sit down in front of their masters
so as to prove to them that their labor-
power is not being sold to anyone else.
Why need they labor? They have not
sold their labor, but only their power
to labor. They could demonstrate
their power to labor by laboring one
day a week and looking sleek and well
all the rest of the week, and just sell
their labor-power each day for its cost.
They would not be robbed at all If It
keep self and family on. Living in an | were only their power to labor that
age of machine production; an age
when vast factories and Industrial concerns cover the earth. A member of
the class getting, as nearly as can be
figured, less than one-fifth of the value
of his labor. Fancy such a one being
thankful! To me the very thought of
the thing ls sickening. Next night I
put up a spiel on the street—dealing;
with "Slave Religions." Some of the
bunch wondered what made me so
bitter. I answered them in the language of science, that every effect has
cause.
HIBERNICUS.
8EVEN SOCIALISTS SHOT.
Maderlsts Tried Them on Charges of
Robbery and Extortion.
Tucson, Arizona, May 28.—Seven So-
ciallst Insurrecto officers, who had
been tried by a Maderlst military
tribunal on charges of robbery and extortion to the extent of $60,000 In the
Altar district of Northwestern Sonora.
were taken a mile outside the town of
Altar yeBterday and shot to death. The
dead Included Capt. Cordoza, former
Jefe politico of Tubatam; one American, a Russian, two California Mexicans and two from the Altar district.
Their names were kept secret.
The men- were former members of
the Berthold command at Mexican.
Their trial lasted more than a week.
The bodies were burled near where
they were killed. A bulletin was sent
bv telesraph to the principal Juntas
along the border, reading:
they sold. The robbery comes in by
their having to themselves produce
not only values which pay for their
labor-power at cost of production but
also four times that value for their
masters for the privilege of "selling"
their labor-power. P. ROSOMAND.
SUITS
TO ORDER
$18 to $30
Entire profits from all Suits
sold through tin's advertisement go to tho fund for printing leaflets and pamphlets hy
the Dominion Executive S. P.
ofC.
PLAN — Write A. F. Cobb,
Gadsby, Alta., for samples of
cloth and measurement forms
2. State about color and price
of Suit desired.
3. Return samples and order
-with deposit of $5.00 to A. F.
Cobb.
4. Suit will be delivered CO.
D. by express.
A. F. COBB
GADSBY, ALTA.
PLATFORM
Socialist Party of Canada
We, the Socialist Party of Canada, in convention assembled, affirm
our allegiance to and support of the principles and programme of th*
revolutionary working class.
Labor produces all wealth, and to the producers it Bhould belong.
The present economic system is based upon capitalist ownership of the
means of production, consequently all the products of labor belong to
the capitalist class. The capitalist ls therefore master; tha worker •
slave.
So long as the capitalist class remains in possession of the reins of
government all the powers of the State will be used to protect and
defend their property rights in the means of wealth production tad
their control of the product of labor.
The capitalist system gives to the capitalist an ever-swelling
stream of profits, and to the worker an ever-increasing measure of
misery and degradation.
The interest of the working class lies in the direction of setting
itself free from capitalist exploitation by the abolition of the wag*
system, under which is cloaked the robbery of the working class at the
point of production. To accomplish this necessitates the transformation of capitalist property In the means of wealth production into collective or working-class property.
The Irrepressible conflict of interests between the capitalist and
the worker is rapidly culminating in a struggle for possession of the
reins of government—the capitalist to bold, the worker to secure it bj
political action. This Is the class struggle.
Therefore, we call upon all workers to organize under the bann*r
of the Socialist Party of Canada with the object of conquering the
public powers for the purpose of setting up and enforcing the economlo
programme of the working class, as follows:
1. The transformation, as rapidly as possible, of capitalist property in the means of wealth production (natural resources, factories,
mills, railroads, etc.) into the collective property of the working class.
2. The democratic organization and management of Industry br
the workers.
3. The establishment, as speedily as possible, of production for
use Instead of production for profit.
The Socialist Party when ln office shall always and everywhere
until the present system Is abolished, make the answer to this question
its guiding rule of conduct: Will this legislation advance the Interests
of the working class and aid the workers ln their class struggle against
capitalism? If it will, the Socialist Party is for it; If it wlll not, tb*
Socialist Party ls absolutely opposed to it
In accordance with this principle the Socialist Party pledges Itself
to conduct all the public affairs placed in Its hands in such a manner
as to promote the Interests of the working class alone.
6S YEARS'
EXPERIENCE
Trade Marks
Design*
Copyrights Ac.
Anyone sending a aketch and description may
quickly ascert-tln onr opinion tree whether an
Invention ta probably patentable. Communlcn.
tlnna strictly conlldentlul. HANDBOOK on Patent*
emit free. Oldest aajency for aecurlnapatenta.
Patents taken through Munn & Co. recelra
special notice, without cbanie. In the
Scientific Jfmericam
k handsomely llln-rtrated weekly. Ifrgert ctr-
dilation of any ii--funtitle journal. Terma for
Canada, $3.76 a year, poetage prepaid. Bold by
aU newMealera.
. &Co.30l,B~**^ NewYQrt
PROPAGANDA
MEETING
Empress
Theatre
Sunday, June
II
PRICE LIST OF LITERATURE
Issued by the Dominion Executive
Committee
"Slave of the Farm," or "Proletarian ln Politics," to locals subscribing
to the publishing fund, $1.00 per 100;
to others, 25c per dozen.
"Socialism and Unionism," to locals
subscribing to the publishing fund,
$1.00 per 100; to others, 25c per dozen.
"The Struggle for Existence," to locals subscribing to the publishing
fund, $1.00 per 100; to others, 25c per
dozen.
"Value, Price and Profit," to subscribers to publishing fund, $2.00 per
100; to others, 30c per dozen.
"Socialism, Revolution and Internationalism," to subscribers to publishing
fund, $6.00 per 100; to others, 75c per
dozen.
LOCAL VANCOUVER NO. 1
PRICE LIST OF LITERATURE.
Capital, Vol. I, II, III, Karl Marx,
per vol $2.00
Ancient Society, Lewis Morgan $1.5*
Six Centuries of Work and Wages,
Thorold Rogers 2.00
Woman Under Socialism, Bebel.. 1.00
Essays on tbe Materialist Conception of History, Labrialo 1.00
Socialism and Philosophy, Labrlola 1.00
Positive Outcome of Philosophy
Dletzgen 1.00
Philosophical Essays, Dletzgen... 1.00
Socialism and Modern Science,
Enrico Ferri 1.00
Evolution Social and Organic, Arthur M. Lewis SO
Vital Problems in Social Evolution, Arthur M. Lewis 50
The above works wlll be sent postpaid to any part of Canada. This ls
only a selection of our stock and almost any bound work in Chas. H.
Kerr's catalogue can be had. Orders
to be addressed David Galloway, 2243
Main St., Vancouver.
TO HOUSEKEEPERS
A If you would like to spend less time in your kitchen
and woodshed, and have much more time for outdoor
life, recreation and pleasure, look into the question of
doing your cooking with a Gas Range.
Telephone yonr address to onr office and we will send a man
to measure your premises and give you an estimate ol cost of
installing the gas pipes,
Vancouver Gas Company, Limited. "TOUr
THE WESTERN CLARION. VANCOUVER, BRITISH CULUMBIA
SATURDAY, JUNE 10th, 1911.
LIQUOR QUESTION.
By J. B. Osborne.
(Continued from last issue)
Only those who help to do the
world's work are of any use to society,
therefore, al! that is good, all that is
moral and all that is vital In the world
today is contained within the working
class; the only useful class. It remains for the working class alone to
abolish all forms of exploitation and
redeem the world from greed, graft
and social Infamy; to establish as the
human ideal, manhood and womanhood, ln place of the ideal of today
which is the dollar mark.
The Economic Argument.
Today any movement which depends
on public suffrage for its success is
compelled to use an economic argument in support of its program. Economic interest is the dominant interest
ln determining the action of the individual as well as of the social group.
The principle argument of the Anti
Saloon League and the Prohibitionists
is economics.
The abolition of the saloons of
Fresno and the establishment of
liquor dispensary where you can buy
liquor of all kinds in original packages, is advocated by the Anti-Saloon
League on the grounds that it would
be more economical. They say why
have fifty saloons with a hundred bartenders, fifty places on which to pay
rent and license and fifty proprietors
making profits, when all the liquor
could be sold through a dispensary at
a nominal cost. This is very good and
I would suggest that while we are going into the dispensary business we
may as well establish a religious dispensary at tbe same time, where one
can buy the best brand of religion in
original packages. Why should Fresno people be taxed to keep up twenty
or twenty-five different churches, who
by the way, pay no tax upon their property, and to pay twenty to twenty-
five preachers a salary of from one to
three thousand dollars a year for
cheap sermons, when through a religious dispensary we could get in printed form the very best sermons of every denomination in original packages
at a nominal cost. Then we wouldn't
have to pay by the year, we would
only get the kind and amount to suit
our taste. For instance one would buy
ten cents worth of Salvation Army, another fifteen cents worth of American
Volunteers, or twenty-five cents worth
of Free Methodist, or Hardshell Baptist, another perhaps would want thirty
cents worth of Presbyterian or forty
cents worth of Congregational, still
others would want fifty cents worth
of Holy Roller, seventy-five cents of
Tangle Tongue, or a dollar's worth of
Mormon. The religious dispensary
would be a big economy alright, but
the ministerial alliance is not looking
for economy in that direction.
I know of an incident in Denver,
Colorado, where two men standing in
front of a saloon were engaged in
conversation. One of them was broke,
the other who did most of the talking
had twenty-five cents. When ready to
go home he said to his friend, "I have
twenty-five cents. I have to pay five
centB car fare and buy ten cents worth
of liver to take home so we can have
a glass of beer with the other ten
cents." While drinking their beer an
acquaintance of the man with the
twenty-five cents came in and said:
"Hello, Will." Will responded "Hello,
Charley, have something." "I don't
care for anything much," said Charley,
"give me a little whiskey." Whiskey
was fifteen cents so lt didn't take Charley long to drink up Will's liver and
car fare.
When I was a boy of fifteen my
mother gave me a dollar and told me
to go to town and buy a new shirt.
When I got to town the stores were
closed so I came home without the
shirt. Next morning, Sunday, I went
to church with the dollar still in my
pocket. This particular Sunday they
were trying to make up a three hundred dollar deficiency in the minister's
salary. I put my dollar ln the collection, in other words, the minister got
my shirt' aB there were no laws tb protect minors ih' such cases.
I am aware that individual extravagance often causes' hardships for the
individual, and that individual economy accrues to the advantage of the
individual: on the other hand I know
that social economy If practiced a few
months under the present system
would produce a panic. I can imagine
of no argument that is more silly than
the contention, so often repeated by
the Prohibitionist agitator, that it is
the money spent by the working class
in the saloon that causes pauperism.
Miss Francis Willard said, "It is
poverty that produces drunkenness,
and not drunkenness that produces
poverty." Professor Warner, of Stanford University, carried on an Investigation, through the Associated Charities and the Salvation Army, as to
the cause of poverty In the United
StateB, England and Germany. While
it Is true that these organizations are
en trades, with all attendant suffering
and misery, will be the result of the
prohibition movement if the Prohibitionists have their way.
"The thousands of brewery workmen who have learned the trade will
find themselves without an occupation,
and will be thrown out upon the world
on an already panic-stricken labor market.
"The consummation of the prohibition movement will paralyze the woodworking industry for years, and the
wood workers will be left without jobs.
Glass-blowing will be an extinct industry. Union cigarmakers will flnd a
market of 50 per cent, of their out-
largely prejudiced against the liquor | put destroyed.
business, still out of 100,000 cases of
poverty Investigated by them. Prof.
Warner's table shows eleven per cent,
due to drink and seventy-five per cent
due to misfortune, i. e., economic causes.
The working class of the United
States produce about ten dollars worth
of wealth per capita for each day employed. The average wage per day is
less than two dollars. It is not what
they spend of this pittance that produces pauperism: it is that part of
their total production that they do not
get and therefore cannot spend which
not only impoverishes the worker but
at the same time produces the constantly re-occuring industrial paraly-
sis.
The wages of the working class are
determined by the amount necessary
for the worker to keep up the standard of efficiency required of him in
that particular country in which he
lives and reproduces his kind. Should
the working class economize by spending no more money for beer, tobacco or
butter, the result would be a fall in
wages, exactly equal to the amount
thus saved. Several of the Southern
states have enacted prohibition laws
and abolished the saloons. Georgia, my
native state, is one of these. Nowhere on the face of the earth is child
life more ruthlessly exploited and the
innocents ground into dividends hy
the capitalist mills of profit than in
these same Prohibition states.
Imagine little children by the thousands working twelve hours a day in
the vitiated air of the cotton mill for
a mere pittance of one dollar and forty
cents a week, children between the
tender ages of six and eleven, under
the benign influence of a prohibition
government, and then listen to the
hypocritical rant of the Anti-Saloon
Leaguer when he tells us that all
pauperism and degradation is caused
by the saloon.
The question of the unemployed ls
the greatest problem confronting the
world today. The answer the Anti-
Saloon League and the Prohibitionists
give to the starving unemployed man
is "You have nothing to eat and no
money, quit drinking, also, and all
will be well."
Carroll D. Wright, in the "Eighteenth Annual Report of the Commission of Labor," shows -that only one-
fourth of one per cent, of all cases of
non-employment in the United States
is due to intemperance.
At the present time we have no less
than 3,000,000 of unemployed laborers
with a surplus product already accumulated in every industry, and still Mr.
Chapin says, "We will employ the
brewers and distillers, bartenders and
saloon keepers; raisin growers and
wine growers in honest industries." He
advises the wine growers to convert
their vineyards into raisin vineyards.
Remember, however, that the raisin
growers have from fifteen to twenty
thousand tons of raisins on hand that
they cannot sell at any price, and what
is true of the raisin industry Is true
of every other industry in the country.
would like to ask Mr. Chapin to
name the particular industries ln
which he can flnd employment for the
one million people now engaged ln the
allied liquor business. Samuel Com
"The thousands of boxmakerB and
coopers who make the millions of boxes and barrels used in the trade will
be left destitute, with no relief in
Bight, and the thousands of teamsters
engaged in hauling these products will
flnd their occupation gone, for the
blight of prohibition is permanent upon the working man.
"The millions of tons of coal consumed in the industry the Prohibitionists seek to destroy gives employment
to 10,000 miners, all of whom would
be thrown out of work Bhould prohibition succeed.
"Brickmakers, masons and builders,
machinists, steamfltters, plumbers, gas-
fitters, wagon makers, bartenders, cash
register makers, and thousands of
other workers will flnd that the prohibition panic is the most permanent
and far-reaching of all panics so far
experienced. The unions will feel it
more than any other class."
The above quotation from Mr. Gompers gives some idea as to what extent
National Prohibition" would affect
the problem of the unemployed, and to
my mind there is no doubt but tbat
the intensification of the problem of
the unemployed that national prohibition would produce, would be fully as
great as Mr. Gompers predicts.
The Prohibitionist has no remedy
for this problem nor for the general industrial conditions of overproduction.
That the present capitalist society
has developed all the productive forces for which there Is room within it,
is evinced by the international suspension of industrial activity.
Our productive ability is increasing
much more rapidly than our consumptive capacity.
The statesmanship of this country
as well as that of every other country
in the world is grappling not with any
merely individual or national problem,
but with a world problem.
Society to-day gives to its producing
class, which class constitutes over
ninety per cent, of the population,
wages enough to purchase and therefore consume, only a fraction of the
wealth that it produces.
How under such conditions can our
consumptive capacity be made to equal
our productive ability.
Plainly then this problem can be
solved only by the working class itself taking possession of the political
powers and abolishing exploitation by
making all the means of production
and distribution which in their nature
are social, public property, socially
owned and democratically managed.
Then and then only will all that is
useless and socially injurious disappear, whether in the grog shop or the
gospel shop.
INCREASIN GINDIGENCE.
Dear Mc:—The following appeared
in today-s New York Times and confirms the Socialists' repeated statement that the lot of the worker becomes ever and ever worse until he
ls on the heap. The writer of it asks,
"Wherein does New York City profit
by this increase in the Homeless
Army?" The question of profit is ever
before them.
I have heard that there iB a scheme
under way where the excrement of the
pe5,\re^^^ lB to be ground down into
eration of Labor, which at its last convention went on record as opposed to
prohibition, wrote in the Federationist
of February as follows:
"The brewery Industries and the allied trades have a total Investment of
upward of $3,100,000,000. They pay annually state and government license
amounting to $27,867,990. In addition
tbey annually pay city licenses, real
estate and personal property taxes aggregating the enormous total of $84,-
500,000.
'To deprive a million workmen of
their personal liberty and an opportunity to earn a livelihood at their chos-
Real Estate Investments
Large fortunes have been made by judicious investments in real estate and natural resources on this
Western Coast and in tho vicinity of Vancouver,
owing to the increasing social demand for these
things, occasioned by the large influx of population.
Larger fortunes will yet be made, but it requires more
money than formerly to handle them. Having had considerable experience in handling these propositions, I intend forming a limited liability company for the purpose,
and shall be pleased to forward further particulars to any
having large or small sums they are not using which may
possibly be lying at the bank depreciating in value.
W. W. Lefeaux, Broker
Hollyfeurn, West Vancoover, B.C.
profits and shares are selling readily.
There Ib also another proposition
where the workers will be Instructed
how to consume their own chemicals
without indigestion. As we are taught
to believe that all good comes from
above, this will readily appeal to the
majority of the workers.
In revolt, ,
C. McMAHON SMITH.
* * *■
The Army of Vagrants.
To the Editor of The New York
Times: —
Is it not obvious that the time has
come to try to deal with the problem
ot vagrancy in New York City in some
consistent and comprehensive manner? Four eventB ln the last week
emphasize our present ridiculously ineffective methods of dealing with the
vagrancy problem.
First, the Commissioner of Public
Charities made seriouB complaint at
the recent city conference of charities
and correction because his hospital
helpers, paid from $5 to $10 a month
and maintenance, were constantly
changing, becoming Intoxicated, being
discharged, being replaced, etc. These
hospital helpers, of a very low grade
of efficiency, are in large measure a
part of the floating army of the ineffl-
cients and the vagrants in the city.
Years ago the hospitals drew their
helpers from the penitentiary and the
workhouse. Today, according to Ex-
Commissioner Hebberd, the same type
is employed except that they are at
the time of employment free agents
instead of prisoners.
Secondly, at the Conference on the
Reform of Criminal Law, and Procedure, held at Columbia University last
week, William M. Ivins graphically described the permanent occupation of
Madison Square by the vagrant army,
the impossibility of maintaining decency in that park, the presence of
chronic rounders and \drunkards of
both sexes, and he even described a
vicious assault as nothing at all rare.
For years Madison Square has been a
resthaven for the inefficient unemployed, although of course not absolutely pre-empted by that class. And
what Is true of Madison Square is true
of Union Square, of Bryant Park, of
City Hall Park, and of many other
parks. What gain is there to the city
in the continuance of this condition?
Other cities have solved the problem
of making the vagrants move on in the
parks. Why should we hand over the
fairest and costliest plots of ground
in the center of our city to the least
productive members of the community?
Third, in the Times of May 15th,
the Joint Application Bureau, maintained by the Charity Organization Society and the Society for Improving
the Condition of the Poor, is quoted
as announcing that there are more
vagrants in the city of New York than
ever before. The Municipal Lodging
House lodged in January, 1911, 24,336
as against 11,252 in January, 1910.' A
large proportion of these persons are
of the vagrant down-and-out class. In
April, 1911, 15,715 persons were lodged
In comparison with 7,776 in April, 1910,
an increase of over 100 per cent. The
citizens of New York probably do not
realize that the cost of maintaining
one person in the Municipal Lodging
House for one night was in 1908 35
cents; in 1909, 44; in 1910, 40. During six months, up to the end of
March, 1911, the Joint Application
Bureau had 18,000 applications from
homeless men as compared with 12,000
in the same length of time ln 1910.
Wherein does New York City profit
by this increase ln the homeless army?
Fourth, a bill was introduced on
May 10th in the Assembly providing
for a farm and industrial colony for
tramps and vagrants and for an inquiry in relation to vagrancy. The
bill Indicates that there are vacant
State lands in New York State possibly suitable for a farm and industrial colony. If there are, let us know
lt quickly. The commission provided
for by the bill would receive an appropriation of $10,000, not only to secure options on a site if necesBary, but
to study the prol'iem of vagrancy in
New York State. Certainly when the
State can appropriate millions for
barge canals, State roads and the like,
$10,000 to study the vagrancy question, which costs the State, according
to the State Board of Charities, at
least $2,000,000 a year, from which we
get no return, ls a sum which should
be immediately voted.
Why proceed further in this strain?
It is obvious even to the unthinking
that our vagrancy problem is serious.
A generation ago or more Germany
sought to fortify itself against the increasing army of vagrants by establishing voluntary and compulsory
labor colonies. Many of the German
compulsory labor colonies are largely
self-supporting and the colonies have
reduced vagrancy. Free employment
bureaus throughout the German Empire have rendered German labor more
mobile. England has recently undertaken to establish free employment
bureaus on a large scale. To paraphrase a well-known Latin phrase:
How long shall the vagrant army
abuse our patience?"
In conclusion I suggest two attempts
at a solution: United effort to further the present farm colony bill and
the appointment of a vagrancy commission, and the calling of a conference in New York City of all the more
Important agencies dealing with the
vagrancy problem, with the Idea that
they shall at least try to "get together"
on this problem, instead of dealing
with it in a more, or less centrifugal
manner and with little relation to
each other.
O. F. LEWIS.
New York, May 16th, 1911.
MUST COME TOGETHER.
THEY MUST BE BROUGHT TOGETHER,—NO MATTER HOW. They
must thoroughly understand that, no
matter at what trade or profession
they may toll, whether engine driver
or section hand, riveter or caulker,
clerk or common laborer, miner or
mucker, whether skilled or unskilled,
so long as they work for wages, their
interests are identical. An injury to
one is an Injury to all.
They must make their slogan, "All
for one, and one for all."
They must hang together,—or hang
separately.
Their exploitation is a common one
and merely differs ln degree, not in
kind.
Scoffers may doubt the capacity of
the workerB to own and run the industries; but the fact remains that they
do run them today, while not owning
them,—not yet. From the salaried
manager at the top, to the unskilled
"hunkie" at the botom, they are workers all, members of the vast working
class. The capitalists and their financial manipulators are merely skilled
in the noble art of doing the other
fellow. If they are capable of running the industries, what is there impossible about them owning them?
They may not have the capacity for
"high finance"; but with the establishment of Socialism and the passing
of capitalism, "high finance" will also
pass away. Capitalism is paving the
way for its own downfall. It is digging its own grave. The trusts are
organizing the various industries and
bringing them into a condition ripe
for social ownership. Oil trusts,
sugar trusts and steel trusts are all
performing their useful functions and
eliminating wasteful methods of production, though at the cost of much
suffering.
The small trader, with his duplication of plants, stores and employes, in
the same line of business, is being
gradually absorbed or eliminated.
His "right to live" ls not even considered. The vast industrial plants
and departmental stores can produce
and sell cheaper than he. The consumer wants the best article obtainable for the lowest price,—so the
small trader goes. Bust the trustB?
Not yet!
The small farmer is also getting his
quietus. The capitalist farmer is
reaching out with his steam ploughs
and modern wholesale methods, cultivating by the mill where the small
farmer cultivated by the acre, and
pushing him to the wall,—and not a
word about compensation.
An unemployed army of would-be
workers is also developing. With the
wolf of starvation panting at the door,
and their loved ones in dire distress;
or, as it often happens, no door for
the wolf to pant at, and a dreary, loveless, wandering life their lot, their
murmurings are growing ever louder
and mare threatening,—and will not
very much longer be denied. TRUSTS
and UNEMPLOYED, the twin Cains
of capitalism!
Opinions differ as to the way Social-
Ism may he brought about. Some 57
or so "varieties" of Socialism have
been unearthed, but there is only one
Socialism, SOCIAL OWNERSHIP, and
theBe so-called varieties are merely a
difference In method in gaining the
same end. They may he united under
two headings, POLITICAL ACTION
and INDUSTRIAL ACTION.
Differing aB these methods do, they
are but a difference in .tactics,—and
the fittest will survive. There should
be no quarrel between the industrial:
1st and the polltlcalist. They should
practice a little more mutual aid, for
so long as the workers are divided industrially, they are hopeless politically. The crux of the question is class-
conscious education,—and organization. It is then "up to" the workers
to educate and organize themselves,
so that they may be capable of seizing
hold of the industries and run them
in their own interests, which, there
being no classes, will be the Interest
of all.
GOUROCK.
PERCY'S PARS.
There is only one brand of Socialism
that really ls Socialism. That is the
Revolutionary (scientific) Socialism
whose sole aim is to abolish all forms
of Slavery and establish perfect freedom and equality of opportunity to
live, and enjoyment of a full measure
of the fruits of this Earth.
eae
Of two evils—Liberals or Conservative—choose neither.
e, * ,
You must always allow the "EASEMENT" between theory and practice.
We have a very fine theory, but Socialism will be what the people make
lt, as it will all be done by the voice
of the people (plus a little work dally
which is hardly worth the mentioning,
as lt will merely amount to a digestive—just enough to keep us in health
and comfort and plenty). I would
not see people kept out of our party
until they, knew Socialism from A to Z,
but rather that they should get education within the ranks. Each day I
see my mistakes of precious days, and
if I had not belonged to the party, very
likely somebody else might divert my
attention and educate me falsely. I
would NOT. like the party decentralized and the best brains scattered
broadcast but rather that those brains
form the educational fort as we have
the party at present. I have read
many Socialist papers and none keep
more to proven fact—tha true education—than our Western Clarion. We
may not please some—facts are stubborn things, and often hurt—but why
try to dodge facts by hanging on to
Ignorance and prejudice and false doctrine?
* * *
Conceit is the result, in part, of ignorance. Many people who work for
their living would not for anything
have themselves thought to be members of the great "working class." Oh
no! not they. Their noses go up in the
air when a working man ln some other
line of work passes them, and they
pride themselves on voting for the
wealthy whom they worship and—incidentally—are the abject slaves of.
Their pride and conceit we look on
as IGNORANCE and BELLY-CRAWLING to the master class—what all
slaves are expected to do by their
masters.
* * •
Each individual who disposes of his
labor-power produces the values which
reproduce his labor-power, aud as
labor-power is a perishable human attribute, each individual l.as to keep on
producing his own labor-power each
day. The fifth of the values he produces dally go back to him in food,
overalls and lodging, and on a declining scale, into the rearing of young
peddlers of labor-power, as his parents
reared him. Both ends balance up,
leaving the Individual producing his
own labor-power. If society produced
it as some say, Mike Smith's labor-
power could go on being produced
hundreds of years after Alike Smith
were dead. In aggregate, of course,
LABOR-POWER is socially produced
but it takes all individuals to make
aggregates.
eee,
A worker who disdainB a fellow
worker Ib sure to be a very 'umble
and obedient* servant, ready at any
instant to break his neck ln his endeavors to serve his masters. But the
bible tells this kind how great they
are; incidentally dividing workers
against workers; for does it not say
"He that would be greatest among you,
let him be your servant." Fellow
slave, you have been guided into a
slough by following the teachings of
that book. Science knocks out the
whole works of It. Get out of the
slough and tread upon firm ground.
a * *
It would do a great many Socialists
good to read that piece in the Clarion
of May 27th, headed "Excerpts From
Oscar Wilde." Of course, complete
freedom of the individual and absence
of government cannot be expected
until some time after the Socialists
take their hold. We have to bring
along "perfection" and never attain to
it. I should like to see that piece
brought out as a pamphlet by the
Dominion Executive. A whole lot of
enthusiastic workers for Socialism are
really working against it. They need
such a pamphlet to read over about
a hundred times and digest its meaning and significance.
P. R.
EDMONTON RESOLUTION.
Copy of Resolution re the arrest of
the officers of the Structural Steel &
Iron WorkerB International Union of
America and others in connection with
the dynamiting of the building of the
Los Angeles Times on October 1, 1910.
WHEREAS John J. McNamara, Secretary-Treasurer of the Bridge & Structural Iron Workers Union of America,
Jas. McNamara and Ortie McManigal
were arrested and hurried out of the
State of Indiana to Los Angeles, Cal.,
to answer to the charge of having dynamited the Los Angeles Times Building on October 1st, 1910; causing the
death of twenty men; and
WHEREAS the said John J. McNamara and others were taken out of the
State of Indiana without due process
of law, without even being accorded
the prescribed rights of the law, the
opportunity to defend themselves; and
WHEREAS if the evidence ls as conclusive as the prosecution claims
against J. J. McNamara and others;
why then did they not give them the
opportunity to defend themselves under the extradition proceedings; and
WHEREAS it appears to us that this
is a repetition of the Haywood, Moyer,
and Pettlbone outrage, instigated by
organized capital against organized labor for the sole purpose of crushing
Trade Unionism and thereby placing
organized labor more completely under the power of organized capi'".l.
Therefore be it resolved that we, the
officers and members of Local No. 1 of
Alberta, of the Bricklayers, Masons &
Plasterers International Union of America, do hereby emphatically protest
against the said kidnapping outrage
perpetrated against the members of
the Structural Steel & Iron Workers'
Association, and be it further
RESOLVED that we believe the
aforesaid kidnapped victims to be absolutely innocent of the grave charge
which hovers over them, we hereby
call upon all organized labor throughout the North American continent, to
vigorously protest against this outrage
and to use their future votes to place
men of their own class ln charge of
the powers of government, to usher in
as soon as possible the Co-operative
Commonwealth; and be it further
RESOLVED that copies of theBe resolutions be spread upon our minute
books and also sent to
"The Appeal to Reason," Girard,
Kansas.
"Cotton's Weekly,"
"The Western Clarion,"
"The Bricklayer, Mason and Plasterer," and
The Local Daily Papers.
Signed on behalf of the above Local,
F. BLAKE,
JAS. BRERETON,
S. STEWART.
Resolution Committee.

Comment

Related Items

Feedback / Report Issue

Feedback on Open Collections Website

Open Collections is an initiative to bring together locally created and managed content from the
University of British Columbia Library's open access repositories. The Library welcomes questions and
comments about Open Collections. If you notice any bugs, display issues, or data issues - or just want
to say hi - you're in the right place! Thanks for visiting Open Collections.